Hello Fintech Friends,

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below. (👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know!)📖 Read of the WeekI loved Rohit's writeup this week (with a great graphic) on the nuances of building different lending products, the processes required, and the vendors that will support you based on the loan product you're building. My experience building Petal (consumer credit card product with a bank partner) was very different than that of early Funding Circle (borrower-dependant small business loan notes)."Credit products, unlike many others, can’t be launched without figuring out many details at the outset. Even though the fintech landscape is exploding, it remains difficult for founders to launch quickly. Depending on your product - credit card, personal loan, mortgage, auto loan, etc. - your compliance regulations, risk models, operations, processes, and funding models are going to be different and super complex. There are unique nuances to each of these products and you’d need to learn those prior to launch.""Wall Street lenders valued the major airlines’ mileage programs more highly than the airlines themselves. United’s MileagePlus program, for example, was valued at $22 billion, while the company’s market cap at the time was only $10.6 billion."☯️ Exits🤝 M&A - FintechPublicly-listed identity verification provider Clear (which you've probably encountered in airports) acquired reusable KYC provider Sora ID to expand into financial identitThe "Robinhood for Nigeria," Chaka, was acquired by pan-African investment management platform Rise* to build borderless investing.AI debt collection provider Colektia acquired a portfolio of non-performing loans for $72 million.Redwood, a British neobank for small businesses, is looking to raise fresh capital through its reverse takeover of London-listed R8 Capital Investments, taking it public.Vista Equity bought a majority stake in subscription management software provider TRG Screen for $250 million.Private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners announced its acquisition of Avenu, a provider of administrative and payment software and solutions to state and local governments.Financial wellbeing app Wagestream acquired challenger credit card startup Keebo to help more workers access credit.American Express is seeking a buyer for Accertify, more than a dozen years after buying the fintech, according to three banking and venture capital executives. British digital banking software provider ieDigital acquired its American counterpart Connect FSS .Private equity firm General Atlantic is looking into selling off payments software vendor EngageSmart, which has a market value of $3.3 billion. 🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServPNC Bank acquired a portfolio of $16.6 billion in capital commitments from Signature Bridge Bank.ABN Amro sold its 49% stake in EMS, a Netherlands-based payment processing joint venture, to Fiserv. Premji Invest, a multi-family office, and stock broking giant Zerodha are engaging with Bank of Baroda to acquire a stake in the lender’s subsidiary Nainital.🌎 Fintech Around the WorldNorthern Nigeria Tech Ecosystem ReportIslamic fintechs ‘gaining foothold after slow start’📚 Deeper Reads & Features‘Talk to everyone you can’: Plaid’s Zach Perret on navigating a failed sale and Covid upheavalFintech actually has a value system: Here’s how we can reclaim itThe Great Zelle Pool ScamWith Banks Offering 5% Returns, Financial Advisers Fight IrrelevanceHow can Financial Market Infrastructures advance the adoption of DLT?Making America’s payment system work for a digital centurySupreme Court justices appear skeptical of challenge to CFPB's funding structureIntroducing the a16z Global Payments HubQED: Reimagining the Future of FinanceCan AI Beat the Market? Wall Street Is Desperate to TryEmotional support alligator Wally barred from entering Phillies’ stadium, but owner still hopes to bring playoff luckHave a news item for us? Reach out to news@thisweekinfintech.com